Method of stitching fastener tape for forming fastener sections



y 2, 1956 ROSEMAN METHOD OF STITCHING FASTENER TAPE FOR FORMING FASTENER SECTIONS Filed May 5, 1953 I f INVENTbR. J50 fioJfNH/Z 54:7 ATTORNEY z-U a -6 km Tliisk invention relates in particular to themanufacture of sections ofadjustable fasteners to be used, for example,

in connecting" the rear end portions; of brassieres orthe tape having oneor more fastener elements such as books or eyes'tsecured thereon-and alsohaving: a short elastic of the end edges of the piece bei-ngibound by a-line of stitches.

lation longitudinally of. the tape, and a; buttonhole stitching machine has been-used fofstitching the tapetransversely betweenadjacent elastic straps with the juxtaposed parallel lines of stitches running transversely of. the tape and serving as. the end bindings for the adjacentfastener l sections to be formed, and then theilongji tape'has been severedbetween said'juxtapjosed linesof stitches. During the formation of the buttonhole stitches,- the needle must travel first in one direction transversely of audientirely across the stripof tape and then return in the-reverse direction to form the'opposed-lines or rows or stitches; and this-is a slow, unsatisfactory and. expensive operation. i A prime object of thepresent invention is to save at least one half ofthe time now required to make said buttonhole stitches and to provide a more satisfactory andlless expensive method of,va-nd"niachine for, forming opposed lines or rows of stitches transversely of a strip of fastener tapegof the character described, whereby a more rapid and economical production of fastener sections can bet ach-ieved. The: stitchesi may be zig sag stitches, straight stitches or other suitablestitches:

In theprior art,--when abuttonhole machine was used, the surrounding buttonhole stitches were out at the points ofjuncture of the elastic strap and the fastener strip when stitches werethus permitted to unravel atthe pointwhere unravelling is most objectionable, and another object of my invention is to prevent such unravellin'giof stitches machine needles so as to prevent accidental breaking "of the needles should the operator misjudge the location of thefaste'her strip beneath the needle; and this has resulted in unsatisfactory fastener sections in that the fastenerelements are located too faraway from, the end edges of the fastener sections. Therefore a further object ofmy invention-isle provide amethod which shall permit the fastener elements-to betlocated close to the end edges ofthefastener sections and at the sametimeeliminate the like, each fastener section comprisingna piece oftfabric' strap projecting:laterallytfrorn one longitudinal edge there- I saidstrip was divided intofastener sections and those cut 7 p 2,746,412 patented May 22, 1956 2 v possibility of accidental contact of the needleswi-ththe fastener elements, j l

Stillanother objectof my invention is to providesuch a methodwherein a plurality of series of opposed rows of stitches transversely of the strip can. be formed in one continuous operation This is in contrast to the formation of the stitches for a buttonhole, the stopping of the needle, the subsequent feeding of the tape for the next buttonho'le and the starting. of the needle to form said buttonhole and so on which has-been' commonin' the use 'of buttonhole machines a and moreover, with my method the'edg'ebinding stitches; do not cross any severed portions as is the case whena zig-zag machine isusedi Further objects are to provide a method and apparatus for-forming two parallel lines or rows of buttonhole l-ike stitches transversely of afabric strip or the like-which shall include the'utiliza'tion of two needles arranged in side by side spaced relation, andthe' manipulation of: said needlesand thestrip in such away. that one needle Will forms a'line or row of stitches from 'o'needge of the sti'ip to a point intermediate the Width of the strip while t-he otherne'edle simultaneously forms a line or row of-stitches beginning at a point between said edge of the strip and the first-mentioned point arid-extending to the otheried ge of the strip,- after which the direction of relative movement of the parts is' reversed and other similar linessof stitches; are made in: spaced relation to the firstlin'e; and to provide such a method. and apparatus whereineach needle shall form a line of stitches longitudinallyof the strip from one series. tothe nextsetiss of transverse lines offstitches: i i

' O tlierobje'cts; advanta esrand': results of the invention will-be brought o'utby the followin description in conjunction with" the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a schematic front elevationalvicw-of the stitching head of" a sewing machine for erforming the operations hcreinberore described;

Figure 2- is an end clevational view of the stitching t Figure 5 is a fragmentary composite perspective view ofa stripof fabric 'andtwo needles and illustratingthe beginning of the first step in the method offo'rmiiig the stitches-hereinbefore described;

Figure 6 is a simiiarvi'cw showing the next step in'th-e formation of the stitches? Figure 7 is a like view showing" thenext successive stem Figure 8 is a view l'ilc'Figurc 7 showingtiie filial step in the formation 'f'ilic" two parallelrows of stitches; V

Figure 9 is a fragmentary plan view of a section of the'fast'en'er ta e particularly contemplated by the invention showing the stitches formed in accordance With-:the vinvention; and i Figure 10 is a similarview showing the fastenertape severed into fastenertsectionsi V Describing the fundamental. principles of the invention and-With particular reference to Figures 5 'to' 8 inclusive, the reference character A designates a strip of textile fabric or the like in which the stitches are formed by two needles B and Othat during the' performance of the method of :the invention are spaced from each other transversely of the strip A so that oneof, the needles will be disposed closely, adjacent one'of the longitudinaledgesrl ofthe strip while the other needle will. be disposed-at 7 approximately the" central p0int' inthe width oflthe strip t or on 'the'longitudinal median line of the strip as best shown in Figures and 7.

The needles and strip A may be operated in any suitable manner, but are shown as mounted on the needle bar -D of 'a sewing machine and the needles are threaded in the usual way (not shown). Where the stitchesare to he of known straight lock-stitch typ e,the needle bar will be reciprocated in cooperation relative to the usual other elements'of a stitch-forming mechanism so as to cause penetration of thestrip-by the needles and carrying of the needle thread throughthe strip for interlock with form the stitches that are generally designated 2. The strip A may befed longitudinally beneath the needles along the bed'plate of the sewing machine by the usual "work feed mechanism (not shown) and at pre-determined times the strip may be moved transversely of itself by-any suitable mechanical feeding mechanism (not 7 'shown) or by hand..

'Assuming that Figure 5 illustrates the relative posi- .-tions of the strip A and needles B and C at the beginning of an operation contemplated by the invention, it will be seen that one needle B is adjacent one longitudinal edge of r the strip while the other needle C'is approximately at the center of the width of the strip. The needles are then reciprocated simultaneously and the strip is moved in Figure 6, as shown by the arrow in Figure 8 to form another line of stitches parallel to the first line and comprising longitudinally aligned groupsof stitches c. Thereupon, the strip A is moved longitudinally and parallel lines of stitches d are formed along the longitudinal the locking or bobbin thread of thesewing machine to they are severed from the strip between the transverse stitches f and g, as shown in Figure 10. I

The zig-zag stitches'maybe produced by any suitable mechanism which is schematically illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive and is of the same general type disclosed in Patent No. 2,153,006 granted on April 4, 1939 to Leo Roseman. .The needle bar D is mounted in a bracket G which is pivotally mounted at 5 on the frame H of the stitching head of the machine. The needle bar is reciprocated in the bracket G in the usual way from the drive shaft I of the machine, and as shown, the shaft I carries a disk K on which is a wrist pin that is connected by a 'link to a pin on'theneedle bar (not shown) but illustrated in said Patent No. 2,153,006.

'The needle bar is oscillated back and forth as indicated by the arrows in Figure 2, and at the same time the work is manipulated transversely of itself along the bed plate L' in short steps to form the zig-zag stitches f, g, it being understood by-those skilled in the art that any suitable mechanism, generally controlled by a cam, could be utilized for so manipulating the work. For oscillating the needle bar, a link 6 is pivotally connected to the bracket G and is reciprocated by a cam (not shown but generally illustrated in'said Patent No. 2,153,006).

'It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the stitch groups of each set of stitches a and c may over- 'lap each other or be spaced apart at the center of the width of the strip, as desired and-as shown. Where fastener'sections of the type shown in Figures 9 and 10 are to be made, :probably it is better to have the groups of stitches of each set slightly overlap each other to make in effect a continuous line or row of stitches.

When desired, for example, when there are three rows of fastener elements, the needles can be spaced apart a distanceless than one half the width of the fastener strip Y Eso that the longitudinal line of stitches intermediate the median line of the strip and along one edge of the strip 0 respectively, This brings the needles backto theposition shown in Figure 5, whereup0n' another series of transverse stitches may be formed in the same manner as above described.

The strip A may then be severed between the groups a ends of the respective series of transverse stitches so ,as to form sections. It will be understood that ifdesired, to.limit unraveling of the fabric or the sets of "stitches at the ends of the respective sections, superposed 'or tying stitches e may be formed at one or both ends of the sets of stitches a and c by proper relative movement of the needles and work.

At this point it should be noted that either the strip A may be moved transversely as described or the needles width of the strip will not have to pass over the middle row of fastener elements. Under such conditions, one needle would travel'from one edge -of the strip about two-thirds of the width of .the tape'to'wardthe other edge while the other needle would simultaneously move from a point spaced about one-third of the width of'the tape from the first-mentioned edge to the second men- ,tioned edge of the tape, the groups of stitches thus could be oscillated transversely of the strip in forming l the stitches above described.

' Obviously the stitches d are not important to the separation and binding of the fastener sections, butthey do permit the formation of the plurality of series a, c of transverse stitches successively in a continuous operation, whereupon the fastener sections can be produced rapidly and economically.

'Whe're fastener sections of the type includingpieces of fabric and elastic straps are to be produced, it is desirable'that the transverse stitches be of the zig-zag'type as shown in Figures 9 and 1 0. Here the strip E of fabric has fastener elements, particularly wire eyes 3, secured theeron and also has a plurality of elastic straps 4 secured to and projecting from one longitudinal edge of the strip in spaced relation to each other. The transverse lines of stitches f and g that correspond respectively to the stitches a and c are disposed in approximate align- .ment with and penetrate the adjacent longitudinal-edge portions of the elastic straps 4 so as to fasten the straps to the strip and are of the zig-zag type so as to form neat .and firm edge bindings for the fastener sections F when formed overlapping each other for about one-third the width of the tape. However, instead of that method, a

known type of stitch-over machine could be used to permit the stitches to traverse the fastener elements and yet prevent the needle from striking said elements.

When'the fastener strip is cut transversely to form the fastener'sections itis desirable to leave a portion of the strip, for example of an inch of the width thereof uncut, so that the plurality of fastener sections can-be handled in a strip as a unit until it is desired to separate them from each other. The fastener sections in this strip condition can be more readily fed to sewing machines for attaching the fastenersections to garments. When it is desired, the sections can be completely separated by simply snipping the uncut portions of the strip.

It will thus be seen that the method of the invention makes possible entirely automatic production of fastener sections of the character'described with relatively unskilled operators; one operator can easily attend to three *toiive nia'chineswhereby production of the fastener sections can be increased six to ten times of that heretofore achieved with the buttonhole and other prior art 'rnachines.

Moreover, the invention permits the rapid and efficient production of fastener strips of greater width than possible with theknown button hole machines which are generally limited to lines of stitches up to two inches in length; Fastener sections having three rows of fastener elementsshould be at least 2% inches in width so that the button hole machines would not be capable of producing such fastener sections.

Modificationsand changes in the steps of the method will occur to those skilled in the art as within the spirit and scope of the invention, and it will also be clear that other types of apparatus or machines than that described may be used in practicing the invention.

I claim:

1. In a method of making fastener sections from a long tape having fastener elements spaced longitudinally thereof and extending toward one longitudinal edge of the tape, and elongate straps projecting perpendicularly from the other longitudinal edge of the tape with the juxtaposed longitudinal edges of two adjacent straps disposed in spaced relation to each other and between two adjacent fastener elements, the steps consisting in arranging'at least two needles in parallel relation spaced apart equidistantly transversely of the tape and in cooperative relation to other elements of a stitch-forming mechanism with one needle disposed above one longitudinal edge of the tape between two adjacent fastener elements and with the other needle disposed intermediate the width of the tape, relatively moving the needles and the tape in the direction of spacing of said needles and transversely of the tape with the tape beneath said needles until the second-mentioned needle is disposed above the opposite longitudinal edge of the tape and simultaneously reciprocating said needles into and out of said tape during said relative movement of the tape and the needles and causing each needle to form one line ofstitches in continuation of the line of stitches formed by the other needles, thus providing at the same time a plurality of aligned lines of stitches extending transversely of the tape from edge to edge thereof between said adjacent fastener elements above the first-mentioned longitudinaledge of the tape between said two fastener elements to form a plurality of other aligned lines of stitches each produced by one needle between said two fastener elements and along the adjacent edge of the other of said two straps.

2. In a method as defined in claim 1, oscillating said needles in directions longitudinally ofvthe' tape simultaneously with the reciprocation of the needles and simultaneously with the relative movement of the work and the needles transversely of the tape to form zig-zag stitches to serve as a binding for the edge of a tape section after the tape has been severed between said transverse lines of stitches.

3. In a method as defined in claim 2, causing said zig-zag stitches to penetrate the edge portions of said two straps to secure the straps to the tape.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,742,221 Roseman Jan. 7, 1930 2,218,785 Boettcher Oct. 22, 1940 Beckik et a1. May 22, 1950 

